Crispy and delicious, these low carb butter pecan cookies are one of my most popular keto dessert recipes. They’re so buttery and sweet, and so easy to make. And they’re egg free!
I am delighted to be re-introducing you to one of my most popular keto cookie recipes. Now, for those of you who love these butter pecan cookies, don’t panic. I haven’t changed the recipe at all.
I’ve just taken some new photos and added in even more tips and tricks to get the best low carb cookies imaginable! Because you deserve success in your keto baking.
Popular low carb cookie recipe
This recipe was first published in my cookbook, The Everyday Ketogenic Kitchen, and I was amazed at how popular it was right off the bat.
But really, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that these unassuming little cookies took the keto world by storm.
While they aren’t fancy looking, and they don’t have frosting or sprinkles or beautiful drizzles of chocolate ganache, they pack a huge flavor punch.
They’re shortbread-style cookies, with no eggs and no baking powder. Just like traditional shortbread, they are the perfect marriage of flour, butter, and sweetener. Crispy, buttery, and absolutely melt-in-your-mouth.
Have I sold you yet?
Ingredients for butter pecan cookies
Just like conventional shortbread, you don’t need a lot of fancy ingredients for this recipe. You simply need:
- butter
- sweetener – must be erythritol based for a crisp cookie
- flour – a mix of almond and coconut flours gives the right consistency
- vanilla
- salt
- chopped pecans
Tips for keto butter pecan cookies
The method is ridiculously simple but I have a few extra tips for you!
- Use softened butter. The butter should be soft enough for you to press a finger easily into it. If not, warm it up ever so slightly before proceeding, otherwise the other ingredients won’t beat in as well.
- Beat in the sweetener. It is absolutely imperative to use an erythritol based sweetener such as Swerve here. Erythritol is the only sweetener that allows cookies to get crisp. Even a small amount of allulose or BochaSweet will make them too soft.
- Add the flour, vanilla, and salt. The dough should be very uniform and well combined.
- Stir in the chopped pecans. I find it easiest to do this by hand, as the nuts can get caught in the beaters.
- Roll into balls and flatten slightly. Don’t push them down too much yet, as the edges crack when you do. Bake for 5 minutes.
- Flatten again. This is a trick I developed to get nice flat keto cookies. After a few minutes of baking, the dough is softer and more cohesive, so you can press them down thinly with a flat bottomed glass.
- Finish baking and enjoy! Remember, they will continue to crisp up as they cool so, as hard as it might be, leave them alone for a bit.
Slice and bake method
I want to give you one additional tip for these low carb cookies that I think you will appreciate, and that’s the slice and bake method. It’s ideal for making them in advance and baking a few cookies at a time. Here’s what you do:
- Divide the dough in half and roll each into a log about 1 1/2 inches thick.
- Wrap each log tightly in waxed paper and freeze for 1 hour.
- Use a sharp knife to slice the dough into 1/4 inch slices.
- Bake 5 minutes, then flatten with a glass.
- Proceed as directed.
You can freeze the dough logs for up to 2 months, but they will be very hard right out of the freezer. Let them soften for about 20 minutes before slicing. You can just cut a few and return the rest of the dough to the freezer, or you can make the whole batch.
Frequently Asked Questions
As mentioned above, these are shortbread style cookies. The recipe works as written and trust me, as long as you are using finely ground almond flour, they hold together just fine!
Please be sure to read the How To section. If you want a crisp cookie, the sweetener MUST be erythritol based, with no allulose or xylitol in the blend. As long as the main ingredient is erythritol, other sweeteners such as Lakanto should be fine.
Absolutely! Many readers have enjoyed these as low carb chocolate chip cookies too.
I have not tested this myself but palm shortening or coconut oil will probably work.
Storage information
Once baked, simply keep these low carb cookies in a covered container on the counter for up to 5 days. You can also refrigerate them for up to 10 days or freeze them for several months.
If you would prefer to freeze the raw dough, please refer to the “Slice and Bake” method outlined above.
Other keto pecan recipes you might like
- The Best Keto Pecan Pie
- Keto Maple Pecan Scones
- Sugar Free Pecan Turtles Candy
- Keto Biscotti with Pecans and Cranberries
- Pecan Crusted Salmon
- Brown Butter Pecan Muffins
Keto Butter Pecan Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (113.5 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup (91 g) Swerve Sweetener
- 1 3/4 cups (182 g) almond flour
- 2 tbsp (14 g) coconut flour
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) salt
- 1/2 cup (49.5 g) chopped toasted pecans
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F and line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter and sweetener together until lightened and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the almond flour, coconut flour, vanilla extract, and salt until well combined. Stir in the chopped pecans.
- Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and place a few inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Flatten slightly with the palm of your hand.
- Bake 5 minutes then remove from the oven and use a flat-bottomed glass to flatten again to about ¼ inch thick. Return to the oven and bake another 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are golden brown.
- Remove and let cool completely. Store on the counter for 4 days and in the refrigerator after that.
Video
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.
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Thank you so much for getting back to me !
They said two weeks and maybe a few days
I would like to send these cookies overseas to my military son is there a reason we need to put them in the refrigerator after four days if I vacuum pack them do you think they would last I love your recipes Have your cookbook ❤️
How long does it typically take to get there? These cookies have no eggs so they don’t go bad quickly but it’s always good to refrigerate almond flour.
Oops! I added 1/4 cup of cocoa nibs; not 1/2 cup. Can’t edit my precious post.
In my pre-keto days one of my favorite cookies was a Pecan Cocoa Nib Shortbread recipe by Alice Medrich. I added 1/2 cup of cocoa nibs to Carolyn’s already delicious recipe here, and baked ’em a bit longer to get them really browned (I know shortbread is supposed to be pale but we like these fully browned). I also found that I can place a piece of plastic wrap over the dough balls and flatten them before putting them in the oven, eliminating the need to remove them from the oven after 5 minutes to flatten. The plastic wrap prevents the dough from sticking to whatever is being used to flatten it. Carolyn, you are the best! Your Everyday Ketogenic Kitchen book lives on my kitchen counter and I wait eagerly for your next books. Thank you, and bless you, for sharing your talents.
Carolyn, I’m gonna make these next weekend! Please tell me the reason and purpose for the coconut flour? I’m a total newbie to Keto cooking and am very curious what just 2Tbs does for the recipe.
It gives it the right texture. Without it, the cookies spread too much.
These are DELICIOUS! Better than I expected…my new favorite! I like to put a heaping tablespoon of no-sugar Butter Pecan Ice Cream (Enlightened or Halo Top) on top, and savour it as long as I can make it last (which isn’t very long…). I sprinkle it with Real Salt, too, because it tastes like salted caramel to me. My only regret is waiting two months to make the recipe when I already had your cookbook. =) Thanks again, Carolyn! Another winner!
Yes, why DID you wait so long! 😉
Just made the cookies for the first time and they taste delicious, however they fall apart. Would adding an egg make a difference?
Don’t add an egg, these are supposed to be shortbread like. Not sure why they are falling apart…did you cream the butter? What brand of almond flour and coconut flour?
Hi if you let them cool completely they will get hard
I would like to swap the almond flour for pecan flour. Do you think this will work?
You simply can’t get pecan flour fine enough to make a really good fine shortbread cookie like this.
Your cookbook is on my Christmas list and I ordered another for a keto daughter. I was just wondering if I could make these without pecans and bake in a shortbread pan as classic shortbread?
Hi Pam. yes, you can bake them that way. Not sure of the baking time, though, so watch them carefully!
Ok Thanks!!!
I only have powdered swerve, will that make any difference?
It may a little but I think it should work.
Made these today and will be making again. They are really tasty. I think I mistakenly added 1 too many tbsp if coconut flour…was distracted by a small emergency and didn’t remember if I had added 1 or 2 when I got back to cookie making so I added 1 more. With how they came out ( a touch too dry) I think they may have ended up with 3 tbsp…ooopps.
I switched out the Swerve for Splenda as I do not like the taste of Swerve at all.
Thank you for sharing your recipe with us all
Could also be the Splenda making them drier and more crumbly.
I’m not sure what swerve is exactly but I have the baking granulated Splenda can I use that in place of the swerve and would I have to adjust the amount at all?
I have not tested this recipe with Splenda so I can’t say for sure. Swerve measures like sugar in terms of sweetness.
Reporting back as promised. The good news is these cookies are very good indeed. My husband liked them so much he had two, kind of unusual for him because he’s not into sweets. The bad news is I think the sweetener gave him diarrhea. I know that Swerve is supposed to be a lot better than most alternative sweeteners about that, so no reflection on the recipe. My husband just reacts in unusual ways to some substances. I loved how easy the recipe is though and because it’s not strictly necessary for us to be sugar free I think I’m going to try again using regular sugar. Do you think that would work? Thanks again for all your hard work.
It should work fine with sugar too. Or if you want to cut back on sugar, use 1/4 cup sugar and then maybe 1/4 tsp liquid stevia extract.
I’m not sure if anyone will see this, but I successfully used Truvia sweetener in this recipe. Because it is a mixture of erythritol and stevia (and twice as sweet) I used 1/4 cup instead of the 1/2 cup of Swerve. Perhaps that might be easier in your husband’s stomach?
In any case, this is my new all-time favourite cookie. My second all-time favourite cookie is Carolyn’s cardamom snowballs.
I just bought your book and am excited to try the recipes! I have loved following you on FB too ! I have a question about how to avoid getting the cool sensation in my cookies when using swerve. Is there a secret to it, as I see that so many people love swerve and I want to also! I will try this cookie recipe with swerve as like you, my very favorite type of cookie is a simple shortbread variety:)
The secret is simply that some people don’t experience that cooling sensation with Swerve. I don’t. It’s the only erythritol based sweetener I don’t get it from. You can mix sweeteners and that can help reduce it. For example in this recipe, you could do 1/4 cup Swerve and 1/4 tsp liquid stevia extract.
Thank you for your response, I will try that:)
Hi Paula and Carolyn. By cool down do you mean they taste different once cooled off or next day. I loved these out of the oven and the first day, but the next day they were so much sweeter and different tasting…is this what you mean and by chance did you test out the suggestion made by Carolyn?Thanks -it seemed the swerve became really distinct to me.
Carolyn, I made these cookies today and they are delicious. I was so excited to see your comment about the sweetener making your mouth feel cool. I experience that too with Swerve, but my husband doesn’t. I’m so glad I am not the only one.
Thanks for the comment on cooling effect. I didn’t realize that some people don’t experience it. I absolutely hate most things with erythritol (except liquids like tea and koolaid in which the erythritol can’t recrystallize, and foods meant to be very cold, like cold strawberries dipped in granular erythritol like I used to do with sugar). I’ve made cookies several times with it and have thrown them in the trash because they taste like menthol cough drops (menthol being something else I hate). But then I must be odd because I don’t like peppermint in most things and I know I have the genetic anomaly which makes cilantro taste like soap. (15% of the population does, including Ina Garten, “The Barefoot Contessa.”) This has left me without the ability to make crisp sweet baked goods like cookies, which makes me so, so sad. If you ever come up with something that works, please let us know. Reducing the erythritol by half doesn’t help me all – I’ve tried. Allulose with stevia, monk fruit, and sucralose is my go-to, but no crispy goodness there. So sad.
Love you and all of your recipes!
So amazing!